Old Time Radio was dog eat dog, CBS and NBC scooped up the all the best stations and biggest talent, leaving all the little local stations in the dust

Not all the independent stations wanted to let NBC and CBS run away with their audiences

In 1934 WGN and 3 other independents, WOR in New York, WLW in Cincinnatti, and WXYZ in Detroit entered into a program sharing agreement. They called themselves the Mutual Network but they were more Mutual than Network. There was a coordination committee, but the real power was with the individual stations who maintained their autonomy as equals.

It was a bottom-up business model. Socialized Radio that shared shows for a several hours a week, but also did their own local thing with the lion’s share of their airtime.

From these humble beginnings, Mutual would grow to cover the entire country and compete head to head with NBC and CBS.

Old Time Radio highlights originally broadcast live June 29 to July 9, 1939.

Chronologically curated clips of live broadcasts from popular shows of the day.

History told by the people living it, as reported by radio.

In Today’s SoundScape:

The Making of Wizard of Oz

Meadow Mouse Grabs 40 Winks!

Charlie and Edgar visit the Grand Canyon!

Featuring:

Judy Garland

Harold Arlen

Robert Young

Bert Lahr

Ray Bolger

Frank Morgan

Don Ameche

Charlie McCarthy

Edgar Bergen

Donald Dixon

Dorothy Lamour

Jackie Cooper

Alan Mowbray

Cecil B DeMiille

H.V. Kaltenborn

The Green Hornet

Tony Galento

Voices from 1939 talking with one of the Greatest Voices on Old Time Radio

In 1939 Orson Welles was only 24 years old but a veteran of Radio. He’d been a regular on The March of Time and was enjoying a very successful run playing The Shadow.

These excerpts are from the Campbell Playhouse in 1939, previously named Mercury Theater of the Air.

These interviews were a regular feature of the Campbell Playhouse. And were meant to deepen the audience understanding of that week’s Radio Play.

FEATURING:

Orson Welles

Dorothy Hall

The Warden of Sing-Sing Prison

Laurence Olivier

Noah Beery

Jane Allen

Pearl Buck

Anna Mae Wong

John P. Maquand

George Jean Nathan

Gertrude Lawrence

Mary Astor

Paulette Goddard

Edna Furber

And More!!